Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Q & A: Multiple orgasm - do they really exist?

Q. I am a 38 yr old woman. My husband and I have a wonderful sex life but I have never had a multiple orgasm. Do they really exist and if so, why dont I have them?

Jean

Dear Jean,

We don't really know why some women are multi-orgasmic and others are not. Researchers believe most women can learn to develope this response.

According to Masters and Johnson, the female body goes through four stages of arousal:

Excitement - the vaginal lips enlarge and become lubricated, the vulva and lower part of the vagina swell and the upper paert of the vagina lengthens.

Plateau - the upper two thirds of the vagina enlarge and lengthen further, the uterus elevates and the clitoris retracts.

Orgasm - the uterus goes through rhythmic contractions, the toes curl and maximum sensation is experienced.

Resolution - the uterine contractions fade, and the heart rate, breathing and blood pressure (all of which steadily increased during the previous phases) return to normal.

Multiple orgams, a series of orgasms with no break in between, tend to occur while the woman is still in the plateau stage. Rather than the womans body moving from orgasm to resolution, the body moves back to plateau, then to orgasm and repeats.Seqential orgasms are orgasm that occur after a slight rest period. The body must start at the excitement phase and move forward from there.

There is no right or wrong way to orgasm. If you would like to obtain a multi-orgasmic response you can try to sustain stimulation after climax. Some women find this painful so be sure you or your partner use a gentle but constant touch.